''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' is the debut
studio album by English band
The Go! Team
The Go! Team are an English six-piece band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of The Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton r ...
. It was initially released on label
Memphis Industries
Memphis Industries is a British independent record label.
Memphis Industries was established as a record label in 1998 by the brothers Ollie and Matt Jacob with the first release being Blue States' Forever EP. It is perhaps best known for The ...
on 13 September 2004, but was reworked to avoid legal issues with samples, and re-released in October 2005.
Background
The album was the project of founder member Ian Parton, who over the course of 2003 recorded demos and musical ideas after work onto many dozens of cassettes using a lo-fi 4-track recorder, and titled each tape with a potential song name idea. Each track on the album was created by combining five or six different ideas from this large assortment of tapes, trying out different chorus sections from one with the verse section of another, to give the music an overall feeling of constantly switching radio channels. 'Get It Together' was the first track Parton created where he felt he'd got the juxtaposition of differing styles within one song right, giving him the template and direction for the rest of the album.
Recording
Recording took place in both the garage and kitchen of Parton's parents' house in
Swansea while they were away on holiday, with him playing all live instruments himself (as at that time there were no other members of the band).
The album was co-produced by his sound engineer brother Gareth Parton, who helped Ian set up the makeshift home recording facility in Wales, and later mixed the tracks at The Fortress Studios and Bluestone in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
'Legal' and 'Illegal' versions
The original 2004 Memphis Industries release of the album (sometimes referred to as the 'Illegal version') had had none of its many samples cleared, as Parton didn't expect the album to attract much attention. However ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' received wide critical acclaim and was later nominated for the
2005 Mercury Music Prize. Thereupon a 'legally clean' version of the album was painstakingly recreated by the Parton brothers, containing only cleared or interpolated samples, and rewritten, resung lyrics, all under the guidance of a legal musicologist.
Junior Kickstart, Bottle Rocket and Ladyflash were among the most heavily reworked tracks, whilst Get It Together was one of a few tracks that remained untouched. This revised 'legal' version of the album was re-released in the United Kingdom and the United States by
Columbia Records in October 2005, with two additional bonus tracks. The album peaked at number 48 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
in February 2006, some 18 months after its original release.
Reception
Reception to ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' was very positive. On review aggregator site
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the album has a score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim".
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' placed ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' at number eight in their list of the top albums of 2004 and at number 171 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.
Concluding the review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, Tim Sendra claimed that, "The Go! Team is widescreen in a pan-and-scan world, a sparkling rejoinder to purists and spoilsports everywhere and more fun than recess on the last day of school. Cinematic, fantastic, and essential to all who want their music larger than life and rambunctious, Thunder, Lightning, Strike is the kind of record that makes you glad to be alive. What could be better than that?"
[
]
Track listing
Sample creditsCome See About Me
"Come See About Me" is a 1964 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label. The track opens with a fade-in, marking one of the first times the technique had been used on a studio recording.
The song became third of five consecutively rel ...
", written by Lamont Dozier
Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK.
Career
Doz ...
, Brian Holland
Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous h ...
, and Eddie Holland
Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", he ...
; "I Can't Rest", written by Billy Davis, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith; '' Wild Style''; and " Ashley's Roachclip", written by Lloyd Pinchback.
* "The Power Is On" contains samples of ''Black Magic''; '' The Clash: Westway to the World''; and '' Gimme an 'F'''.
* "Junior Kickstart" contains samples of "Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainme ...
", written by Galt MacDermot
Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song " African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were '' Ha ...
, James Rado
James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...
, and Gerome Ragni
Gerome Ragni (born Jerome Bernard Ragni; September 11, 1935 – July 10, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter, best known as one of the stars and co-writers of the 1967 musical '' Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical''. On Jun ...
.
* "Bottle Rocket" contains samples of "Soul Time", written by Shirley Ellis
Shirley Marie O'Garra (stage name Shirley Ellis, married name Shirley Elliston; January 19, 1929 – October 5, 2005) was an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian heritage. She is best known for her novelty hits " The Nitty Gri ...
.
* "Huddle Formation" contains samples of '' Gimme an 'F''' and Black Panther chants.
* "Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone" contains samples of "Everybody's Talkin'
"Everybody's Talkin (Echoes)" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Fred Neil in 1966 and released two years later. A version of the song performed by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson became a hit in 1969, reachin ...
", written by Fred Neil
Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material& ...
; and " Stoned Soul Picnic", written by Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...
.
Personnel
Credits for ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' adapted from album liner notes.
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2004 debut albums
The Go! Team albums